Updated Mar 10, 2026 • ~9 min read
Catherine is seventeen.
Graduating from Avalon Academy with top honors.
She’s grown into a powerful, compassionate young woman.
One of the most talented magic users of her generation.
But more importantly: kind. Ethical. Good.
Everything Sera and Damien hoped she’d become.
Edmund is ten.
No magic yet. Might never have it.
But curious, intelligent, and utterly unafraid of his magical family.
“When Catherine makes light, is it hot?” he asked once.
“No. Just bright.”
“Can I touch it?”
“If she lets you.”
He did. Was delighted.
Normal child raised in extraordinary circumstances.
The graduation ceremony is beautiful.
Hundreds of students. Proud families.
Catherine gives a speech as valedictorian.
“Magic is power. But power without purpose is just destruction. We’ve been taught to use our gifts responsibly. To help rather than hurt. To build rather than break. I carry that lesson into the world.”
Sera cries through the entire speech.
Damien holds her hand.
“Our daughter,” he whispers.
“Our incredible daughter.”
Catherine has options after graduation.
Multiple offers. Prestigious positions.
The Ministry of Magic wants her in their defense department.
A magical hospital offers a healing position.
Three universities offer teaching posts.
She turns them all down.
“I’m taking a gap year,” she announces over dinner. “Traveling. Helping people. Figuring out what I really want.”
“That’s very mature,” Sera says.
“I’m seventeen. I don’t know who I am yet beyond student and daughter. I want to discover that.”
“Where will you go?”
“Everywhere. Places where magic can help. Disaster areas. Healing centers. Wherever I’m needed.”
“Alone?”
“With other graduates doing the same thing. It’s a program. Supervised. Safe.”
Damien wants to forbid it.
His daughter traveling the world? Facing danger?
But she’s seventeen. Nearly an adult.
He can’t keep her locked in the manor.
“Be safe,” is all he says.
“Always.”
Edmund is dealing with his own issues.
Ten years old and the only non-magical person in a magical family.
It doesn’t bother him usually.
But sometimes—
“Do you think I’ll get magic?” he asks one night.
Damien and Sera exchange looks.
“Maybe. Some people develop it late. But maybe not.”
“Is that okay?”
“Of course. Magic isn’t what makes you special. You’re special because you’re you.”
“But Catherine is so powerful. And you have the transformations. And Mama has the family bond. I’m just… normal.”
Sera kneels beside him.
“Edmund, listen to me. Normal is not less than. Different is not better. You are exactly who you’re supposed to be. And we love you completely.”
“Even without magic?”
“Especially without magic. You’re grounded. Real. You remind us what matters.”
Edmund seems reassured.
But the question lingers.
Catherine leaves for her travels in autumn.
Hugs everyone goodbye.
“I’ll write constantly. And visit when I can. And I’ll be home for Christmas.”
“We’ll miss you,” Sera says.
“I’ll miss you too. But I need to do this. To become who I’m meant to be beyond this family.”
“We understand. We’re proud of you.”
Catherine leaves.
And the manor is quieter again.
Just Damien, Sera, and Edmund.
Smaller family. Different dynamic.
But still full of love.
Damien is fifty-nine now.
Gray in his hair. Lines on his face.
The transformations are less frequent. Less intense.
His body aging out of the curse.
Or learning to live with it so completely it’s barely noticeable.
“How do you feel?” Sera asks one evening.
“Old. Tired. Happy.”
“All at once?”
“All at once.”
They’re in the garden.
The one that’s been witness to so much.
Pain. Death. Love. Life.
Full of roses now. Catherine’s magic made them grow more beautifully than ever.
“We did it,” Damien says.
“Did what?”
“Built a life. Raised children. Survived impossible things. We actually did it.”
“Did you doubt?”
“Constantly. For years. Even now sometimes.”
“But we’re here.”
“We’re here.”
They sit in comfortable silence.
Fifty-nine and forty-four years old.
Married for almost twenty years.
Longer than Damien ever thought possible.
Longer than Sera dared hope.
And still choosing each other. Every day.
News comes from Catherine regularly.
Letters from across Europe.
In France, helping rebuild after magical disaster. Met an interesting young man named Henri. He’s funny and kind and makes terrible puns. You’d like him.
Then:
In Spain, working at a healing center. Henri is here too. Coincidentally. (Not coincidentally. We’re dating. Don’t make it weird.)
Then:
In Italy, studying with magical historians. Henri proposed. I said yes. We’re getting married next summer. Please don’t freak out. I love him. You’ll love him too.
Sera reads this last letter aloud.
Damien goes pale.
“She’s eighteen. Eighteen-year-olds don’t get married.”
“We were twenty-nine and twenty-three. Not that much older.”
“That’s completely different.”
“How?”
“Because… because she’s our daughter!”
“And she’s happy. In love. Making her own choices.”
Damien wants to argue.
But can’t.
Catherine is old enough. Mature enough.
And if this Henri makes her happy…
“I want to meet him,” he says finally. “Before the wedding. If he’s marrying our daughter, I need to approve.”
“Fair.”
Henri visits for Christmas.
French. Twenty years old. Magical healer.
Charming. Respectful. Clearly smitten with Catherine.
“Lord Corvus, Lady Corvus, thank you for having me.”
“Call us Damien and Sera. Lord and Lady is too formal.”
“Are you sure? In France, we’re very formal with potential in-laws.”
“We’re not formal people. Despite the manor and title.”
Henri relaxes slightly.
Over dinner, they interrogate him gently.
“What are your intentions with our daughter?”
“To love her. Support her work. Build a life together. Eventually have children if she wants.”
“Career plans?”
“I’m training as a magical healer. Catherine and I want to open a clinic. Provide free healing to those who can’t afford magical healthcare.”
“That’s ambitious.”
“Catherine is ambitious. I’m just trying to keep up.”
Despite himself, Damien likes him.
Henri is genuine. Kind. Respectful without being obsequious.
And he looks at Catherine like she hung the moon.
“You have my blessing,” Damien says. “But if you hurt her, I have a transformation curse and no qualms about using it.”
Henri laughs nervously.
Then realizes Damien isn’t entirely joking.
“Understood. I’ll love her always. I promise.”
The wedding is the following summer.
Small ceremony at the manor.
Catherine looks stunning. Henri looks terrified and happy.
Edmund is ring bearer. Takes the job very seriously.
Damien walks Catherine down the aisle.
She’s glowing. Radiant. Perfectly happy.
“Ready?” he asks.
“More than ready.”
“I love you. You know that?”
“I know. I love you too, Papa.”
They walk together.
And Damien gives his daughter to the man who will cherish her.
It’s beautiful and heartbreaking.
Watching her start her own life.
Her own adventure.
She’s not his little girl anymore.
She’s a woman. Building her future.
That night, after the wedding, Sera finds Damien on the balcony.
“You okay?”
“She grew up.”
“She did.”
“When did that happen? She was just born. Learning to walk. Starting academy. Now she’s married.”
“Time is cruel that way. Fast when you want it slow. Slow when you want it fast.”
“I want more time. With all of them. Catherine. Edmund. You.”
Sera takes his hand.
“We have time. Years of it, hopefully. And even when the children are grown and gone, we’ll have each other.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
They watch the party below.
Catherine dancing with Henri. Laughing. Radiant.
Edmund trying to sneak extra cake.
Marcus pretending not to notice.
Friends and family celebrating love.
“We did good,” Damien says.
“We did very good.”
Five years later.
Catherine and Henri open their clinic.
Free magical healing for those in need.
It’s hugely successful. Life-changing for hundreds of people.
Catherine writes regularly.
We’re thinking about children. Not yet. But soon. Wanted you to know you might be grandparents in a year or two.
Grandparents.
Damien can barely process it.
“We’re old enough to be grandparents?”
“Apparently.”
“When did we get old?”
“Gradually. Then suddenly.”
Edmund is fifteen.
Still no magic. Likely never developing it.
But he’s found his own path.
Science. Engineering. Using logic and reason to solve problems magic can’t touch.
“I’m applying to university,” he announces. “Cambridge. For engineering.”
“That’s wonderful!”
“It’s far from home.”
“We’ll visit. You’ll visit. It’s fine.”
Edmund seems relieved.
Like he expected them to forbid it.
“I love you both. Even if I’m not magical like the rest of the family.”
“We love you exactly as you are,” Sera says firmly. “Magic or not.”
“Thanks.”
He’s a good kid.
They did well with both children.
Different. But both good.
Damien’s sixtieth birthday.
They throw a party.
Catherine and Henri visit. Edmund comes home from university.
Marcus, impossibly still alive at ninety-five, attends.
Friends. Family. Celebration.
“Sixty years,” Damien marvels. “I never thought I’d see thirty. Let alone sixty.”
“Spite carried you through,” Sera teases.
“And love.”
“That too.”
They dance together.
Slower than they used to. Joints creaking. Bodies aging.
But still together.
Still choosing each other.
After twenty-seven years of marriage.
Countless obstacles.
Impossible odds.
They’re still here.
Still in love.
Still building a life.
That night, lying in bed, Damien speaks.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For not running. All those years ago. When any sane person would have fled.”
“I’m not sane. We’ve established this.”
“You’re stubborn.”
“Same thing.”
He kisses her.
Gentle. Loving. Grateful.
“I love you, Sera Corvus.”
“I love you too, Damien Corvus. Monster, man, and everything between.”
“Still not a monster.”
“I’ll keep reminding you. Forever if necessary.”
“That’s a long time.”
“Good thing we have it.”
And they fall asleep.
Together.
As they have for twenty-seven years.
As they will for however many years remain.
Because some love stories don’t end.
They just keep beginning.
Again and again.
Forever.
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